EUPHORBIA

[eu.phor.bia] n [NL, alter. of L euphorbea, fr. Euphorbus, 1st cent. a.d. Greek physician] (14c): any of a large genus (Euphorbia of the family Euphorbiaceae) of plants that have a milky juice and flowers lacking a calyx and included in an involucre which surrounds a group of several staminate flowers and a central pistillate flower with 3-lobed pistils; broadly: spurge